MATCH PREVIEW: Longford Town v Limerick

Thu Apr 25th 2019

Match Preview by Tony Ghee

Longford Town go into Saturday’s home clash against Limerick FC in second place in the First Division. Last weekend’s draw away to Cobh leaves Neale Fenn’s charges a point behind league leaders Cabinteely, however, the Midlanders do have a game in hand.

Longford Town are the only unbeaten team in the league with five wins and three draws from their opening eight fixtures, while Limerick despite losing two-nil away to Shelbourne, are just four points off top spot in fifth place.

The earlier meeting between the clubs ended in a scoreless stalemate at the Markets Field with former Town keeper, Jack Brady making some crucial saves between the Limerick sticks to prevent the Town grabbing the winner.

Limerick were outplayed by the Town in the first half but were vastly improved in the second half and came close to scoring in the sixty-seventh minute only for Town stopper Steacy to brilliantly save a stinging effort from Kieron Hanlon.

Longford should have scored on eighty-four minutes after a brilliant move. Peter Hopkins weaved his way past several defenders and sprayed the ball out to Dean Byrne, his pin-point cross to the back post was headed back by Paul O’Connor to Dobbs, but the Town striker’s close-range shot was incredibly saved by Jack Brady with the Town striker firing the rebound wide.

Last week against Cobh, Longford Town were missing the services of strikers Dobbs, Doyle, and Verdon with Verdon and Doyle late withdrawals from the squad due to a slight knock and a dental appointment respectively. Verdon is expected to be out for two weeks, however, Doyle and Dobbs should both be available for selection.

It was great to see Carlton Ubaezuono making his Town debut last week after a lengthy spell out injured and he posed the Cobh defence numerous problems during his substitute appearance and he could prove to be a vital weapon in the Town’s armoury for the remainder of the season.

Carlton Ubaezuonu made his Town debut last week and available for this weekend’s game v Limerick.

MATCH REPORT: Limerick 0-0 Longford Town

Fri Feb 22nd 2019

Town earn a point in League opener away to Limerick

Match Report by Tony Ghee

Longford Town came away from the Markets Field with a point after a goalless draw away to Limerick FC in their opening game of the 2019 First Division campaign.

Limerick came very close to opening the scoring on five minutes when Karl O’Sullivan headed just over from a Darren Murphy corner, while Town striker Aaron Dobbs blazed well over from a good position on twelve minutes.

The Town tested Limerick stopper Jack Brady in the fourteenth minute but Adam Evans thirty yard thunderbolt was tipped over by the former Longford keeper.

Limerick were the better side in the early stages of the second-half and almost took the lead on fifty minutes, as O’Sullivan ran onto McSweeney’s superb headed flick-on, only to fire his shot into the Longford side-netting.

Longford came back into the contest to create a chance on fifty-five minutes. Anto Breslin charged down the left and whipped in a brilliant cross to pick out Dobbs but his glancing header failed to find the Limerick net.

The home side almost caught the Town defence napping on sixty-seven minutes when a long clearance found Kieron Hanlon but his stinging shot was brilliantly saved by Steacy.

Longford should have scored on eighty-four minutes after a brilliant move. Peter Hopkins weaved his way past several defenders and sprayed the ball out to Dean Byrne, his pin-point cross to the back post was headed back by Paul O’Connor to Dobbs but the Town striker incredibly shot wide from close range.

TEAM LINE-UPS

Limerick FC: (4-2-3-1) Brady, Kelly, O’Connor, Williams, Treacy, Hughes, Murphy (Fitzgerald 89 minutes), O’Sullivan, McSweeney (Hanlon 61 minutes), Russell (Walsh-O’Loughlin 84 minutes), Ellis.

Longford Town: (4-3-2-1) Steacy, Chambers, McDonnell, Kenna, Breslin, Elworthy (Byrne 78 minutes), O’Connor, Dervin, Zambra, Evans (Hopkins 66 minutes), Dobbs (Doyle 83 minutes)

Referee: Jason Mannix

Match pictures by Ken Keenan Photography

POST MATCH INTERVIEW with Town forward, Dean Byrne

James Donnelly caught up with LTFC forward Dean Byrne after De Towns opening game of the 2019 season ended in a 0-0 draw in Limerick.

https://soundcloud.com/longford-town-tv/post-match-interview-dean-byrne-limerick-fc-220219

MATCHDAY 1 PREVIEW: Limerick v Longford Town

Thu Feb 21st 2019

Preview by Kieran Burke – @KieranBTS

The long wait is finally over as on Friday night, Longford Town will finally return to competitive action with a trip to the Market Fields to tackle recently relegated Limerick FC on the opening night of the 2019 SSE Airtricity League First Division.

So much has happened since “De Town” ended their 2018 campaign with a draw at home to champions UCD. Sadly, there have been some big name departures in the likes of Mick Kelly, Daniel O’Reilly, Sam Verdon and of course last season’s top scorer, Dylan McGlade. However, manager Neale Fenn has once again spread the net far and wide in terms of recruitment and in the likes of Lee Steacy, Anto Breslin, Conor Kenna and Aaron Dobbs to name a few, the former Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers star looks to have picked up some potential gems.

Anto Breslin, just one of Town’s signings through the close season.

In full, Longford Town have added no less than twelve new names to the squad during the course of a very long off-season and with some valuable pre season encounters against the Ireland’s very best in Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians, Cork City, Dundalk, Sligo Rovers and Cliftonville, it is hoped the squad can gel together quickly and get off to a flying start in what will undoubtedly be one of the toughest First Divisions in many a year.

Friday’s opponents, Limerick have had something of a turbulent few months. However, despite relegation last term, popular boss Tommy Barrett has been able to add some real experience to his ranks with former Longford midfielder, Sean Russell, re-joining the club after time abroad, while Robbie Williams and Darren Murphy are names most League of Ireland followers will be familiar with from recent years.

While Neale Fenn appears to have opted for a particularly young group once again this season, Tommy Barrett appears to have attempted to find a winning formula of youth and experience, with youngsters Aaron Fitzgerald and Karl O’Sullivan highly rated by many on Shannonside.

The Muster outfit played a number of locally based friendlies during pre-season, comulating in a 2-1 victory over the Irish army side just a few days ago. Whether Longford’s run outs against higher calibre opposition translate into a quicker start out of the blocks on Friday night remains to be seen but Neale Fenn must be pleased by the selection headache he is likely to have on opening night.

Jamie Hollywood, continuing his fight back from injury.

In terms of injuries, Jamie Hollywood has managed to get some minutes under his belt in pre-season as he continues his fight back from a serious knee injury picked up in Galway last season, while Dean Byrne is also back on track after an early end to his 2018 campaign. Peter Hopkins is another key man who suffered injury woes last season but again, the winger has picked up some minutes in recent weeks. New signing from Dundalk, Carlton Ubaezuonu is the squad’s only absentee ahead of opening night, having not featured in the lead up to the new campaign, while there are no suspensions to worry about this weekend.

There is no team news available for the hosts, but what we do know is picking up early points could prove vital to Neale Fenn’s side given the difficult fixtures thrown out by the FAI’s computer. After a long trip to the Market Fields, Longford Town will play in front of their own fans next Saturday as last season’s play off rivals, Drogheda United come to the City Calling Stadium.

Kick off in Limerick on Friday night is 7.45pm and Jason Mannix will oversee the opening night’s festives with the whistle in his hand.

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Tag: limerick